Hurricane Jack Wiki
Hurricane Jack | Home Hurricane Jack was the most intense tropical cyclone on record to form in the Atlantic Basin, and the most intense storm to ever make landfall in the continental United States. It was also the strongest hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Ocean with terms of 1-minute sustained winds of 192 mph (309 km/h). It was the 10th named storm, fourth hurricane, second major hurricane, and the first category 5 hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Jack pummeled Southwest Florida and the Florida Keys on August 29 with maximum sustained winds of 187 mph (301 km/h), making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane landfall on record for the highest wind speeds. Jack then left Florida as a minimal category 5 hurricane and rapidly weakened into a category 2 hurricane on September 1. Jack then went to strike Texas after rapidly intensifying into a minimal category 5 hurricane as it stalled over southwestern Texas, similar to Harvey in 2017. The resultant damage to these areas was catastrophic; most structures were flown away, flattened or swept to sea, and at least 1,600,000 people were left homeless. Jack developed from a tropical wave on August 19 on the edge of the western continent of Africa before making its way into the warm waters of the Atlantic. The storm began to rapidly intensify as it was named Jack as the storm moved away from the Cape Verde Islands and the continent of Africa. Jack than began to weaken back into a tropical depression and then intensified into a Tropical Storm, then a Category 1 hurricane. On August 21, Jack underwent an eye-wall replacement cycle that weakened the storm back into a Tropical Storm. After the eye-wall replacement cycle, Jack underwent rapid intensification and on August 26, received the title of the first category 5 hurricane in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Jack went on to strike the Bahamas and Florida as it made peak intensity at 192 mph (309 km/h) while over Grand Bahama Island and a minimum central pressure of 885 millibars by August 29. Jack then remained in southern Florida for about 28 hours as it stalled over the Keys and the state at about 2 mph for 24 hours. After moving back into the Gulf of Mexico and rapidly weakened, Jack began to explosively intensify back into a minimal category 5 hurricane before making landfall in Texas while stalling at 2 mph for 18 hours on September 4. After weakening a bit, the storm made landfall in Arkansas as a category 1 hurricane on September 7 and then went northern ward to it's dissipation over Chicago, Illinois on September 11. From August 26 to August 31, the storm affected several areas of the Caribbean islands including the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Lesser and Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Barbados which also affecting the Bahamas and Florida. Catastrophic and devastating winds primarily in Puerto Rico and the Lesser & Greater Antilles where gusts reached 156 mph (251 km/h). Extensive precautionary measures were taken to mitigate damage, especially in Puerto Rico, where six people died. Elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles, impacts from the storm were still as bad as Puerto Rico with gusts up to 142 mph (229 km/h). In preparation for the storm, the states of Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas all declared a state of emergency and many coastal counties from Florida, Louisiana, and Texas issues mandatory evacuation orders. Damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Texas was catastrophic due to the prolonged and intense storm conditions, including heavy rainfall, extreme winds and storm surge, with millions of homes destroyed and at least 892 deaths recorded. The true death toll is unknown, but news sources in the United States and Bahamas suggested that it will likely be slightly higher. As of October 10, 2019, more than 800 people still remain missing. Jack is by far the costliest hurricane in the Atlantic, estimated to have left behind an exceptional $180 billion in property damage. Hurricane Jack | Meteorological history On August 18, 2019, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began monitoring a tropical wave over the western edge of the Africa continent. The tropical wave moved off of the continent and moved into the Atlantic Ocean late on August 18. Throughout the night, showers and thunderstorms associated with the wave became better organized and gradually coalesced into a low-pressure area, as the system passed west of the Cape Verde Islands early on August 19. Around 07:00 UTC on August 19, the system developed into a tropical depression west of the Cape Verde Islands and was named, Tropical Depression 10L. The system continued to intensify very slowly and continued to be a tropical depression until 23:30 on August 19, where the system intensified into Tropical Storm Jack based on scatterometer data and satellite estimates. On the following day at 04:00 UTC, the tropical storm weakened back into a Tropical Depression 10L before strengthening 18 hours later into Tropical Storm Jack. With warm sea surface temperatures and extremely low wind shear, strengthening was anticipated. The nascent storm began developing upper-level poleward outflow, as an anticyclone became established over the system, with banding features becoming increasingly evident in satellite images. Early on August 21, shortly after the development of a central dense overcast (CDO) and an eye feature, Jack underwent rapid intensification going from a low end Tropical Storm to a high end Category 1 hurricane at 14:00 UTC. Within a 12-hour period, the hurricane's intensity had increased by 45 mph (72 km/h). Late on August 21, a ship passed 70 mi (113 km) to the east of the center of Jack, recording maximum winds of 30 mph (48 km/h), which indicated that the eye of Jack remained compact. A strong high pressure system to the north of Jack caused the storm to move west-southwestward between August 22 and August 24. Early on August 23 at 03:00, Jack underwent an eye-wall replacement cycle that downgraded the hurricane into a high end tropical storm. The eye-wall replacement cycle was completed at 14:30 UTC, and later intensified back into a category 1 hurricane. Jack continued to later rapidly intensify, becoming a category 3 hurricane in just 36 hours. Early on August 25, the first aircraft reconnaissance mission departed from Barbados, discovering an eye 30 mi (48 km) in diqameter and surface winds of 120 mph (192 km/h). Late on August 25, the system began to move into more favorable conditions, as the storm made landfall in the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles before strengthening into a Category 4 hurricane. As the powerful hurricane continued to intensify, the system strengthen into a high end border line category 4 hurricane with winds of 156 mph (251 km/h) before making landfall in Puerto Rico and weakening into a high end category 3 hurricane. Almost one hour later, around 09:30 UTC on August 26, the hurricane strengthened back into a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 mph (249 km/h). Jack continued to intensify late on August 25 while approaching the northern Leeward Islands. Almost eight hours later, around 07:00 UTC on August 26, Jack made landfall along the northern coast of Barbuda as it made category 5 intensity with winds of 160 mph (257 km/h). As the hurricane moved away from the Virgin Islands late on August 26, observations from reconnaissance flights, as well as Doppler radar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, indicated an elliptical eye and double eyewalls. Early on August 27. Around the middle of the day on August 27, the cyclone passed about 80 mi (129 km) west of Puerto Rick. Moving west-northwestward, Jack closely paralleled the north coast of Hispaniola throughout the day on August 27. As Jack continued to strengthen, it made landfall on the eastern end of Cuba late on August 27. On August 28 at 06:30 UTC on August 28, Jack made landfall on the island of Little Inagua in the Bahamas with sustained winds of 175 mph (282 km/h). The hurricane began tracking more to the north due to the intensification of a subtropical ridge to its east. As the eye of Jack moved along the islands of the Bahamas, the hurricane continued to intensify as it was over the very warm waters of the Caribbean. After intensifying even more late on August 28, the system made landfall on the Abaco Islands with winds of 185 mph (298 km/h). Then, the hurricane continued to move west before making landfall on Grand Bahama Island at peak intensity with winds of 192 mph (309 km/h) and a center pressure of 885 millibars. Jack began to weaken slightly to 182 mph (293 km/h) before making landfall in Miami, Florida. Jack's wind field continued to increase in size, with hurricane-force winds spanning out a region of 95 mi (153 km) and gale-force winds spanning 267 mi (429 km) in diameter, making it the hurricane to span gale-force winds. Category:Browse